Lessons for the Test

Responding to the tests right, pt. 4

Mt. 4:8-11

ETS: Jesus resisted the testing of Satan to profit through worldly standards.

ESS: We should learn how to resist Satan from Jesus’ example.

OSS: [MO: Devotional] {SO: I want the hearers to commit to resisting Satan through being fully committed to God’s will for their lives.}

PQ: What lessons can we learn from this passage that will benefit us in the testing?

UW: Lessons

Intro.: [AGS] Dr. George Sweeting said that “Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls. “I watched one gull which seemed to delay and wondered when it would leave. It was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings. The bird flapped and flapped and even lifted the ice out of the water, and I thought it would escape. But it had delayed too long so that its claws had frozen into the ice. The weight of the ice was too great, and the gull plunged into the abyss.” The finest attractions of this world become deadly when we become attached to them. They may take us to our destruction if we cannot give them up.(George Sweeting, in Special Sermons For Special Days). [RS] Just as the gulls in the story were enticed by the fish carcasses in the story, Satan hopes we are enticed by the temptations that he lays in front of us. However, the temptations he places in front of us and the fish seen by the gulls have this in common: both come with great risk. {TS]Jesus recognized the risk associated with the temptation of Satan, and He resisted the temptation of Satan to profit through compromising to worldly standards. As we prepare to be tested by Satan daily, we can learn lessons from the example Jesus demonstrated as He resisted the temptations of Satan. My hope is that as we learn from the life and testing of Jesus, we will commit our lives to the Lord and His will so that we might also resist the testing of Satan as Jesus did.

TS: Let us examine together a few lessons we can learn from this testing account today.

Satan tested Jesus with what was already His. (vv. 8-9)

The final test pertained to the world which Jesus came to save. Satan appealed to him, “I will give you all these things...” referring to “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”

Perhaps this hinged from Ps. 2:8 where the Father said, “…He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.”

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, the world. The way He would do so was through the cross, but Satan tempted him with another way.

Application: God has promised for us eternal security and His blessing over our lives if we follow Him. Satan tries to convince us that he can fulfill the same thing through our compromising and following him. What is ours only through faith and obedience, Satan tries to offer us through compromise and disobedience.

Satan demanded Jesus do things his way rather than God’s way. (v. 9)

Notice the condition of the promise, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”

Augsburger wrote, “The tempter was suggesting that Jesus take another route to win the world than the way of the cross.” (50)

MacArthur wrote, “Satan always comes at us in that way. He suggests that the world of business, the world of politics, the world of fame, or the world of whatever our heart desires can be ours- if only…! We can get what we want; we can fulfill our lusts and our fantasies; we can be somebody. All we must do to get those things of the world is to go after them in the way of the world- which is Satan’s way.” (96)

Barclay explained that the tempter wanted Jesus to compromise. He wrote, “This was the temptation to come to terms with the world, instead of uncompromisingly presenting God’s demands to it. It was the temptation to try to advance by retreating, to try to change the world by becoming like the world.” (81)

MacArthur also wrote, “Satan is a counterfeiter. He offers what seems to be the same as what God offers, and his price is much cheaper. “God wants you to prosper, doesn’t He?” Satan asks, “Well, I’ll give you prosperity a lot sooner and for a lot less. Just turn your head a little at questionable practices. Give in when it’s advantageous; don’t be a prude; Follow the crowd. That’s the way to success.” The basic argument is always a form of the idea that the end justifies the means.” (97)

Kay Arthur said, “Sin will take you farther than you ever expected to go, keep you longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay.”

Application: We must remember that when Satan demands us to do things his way in order to inherit his promises, the Bible demands right the opposite. Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to rely upon the Lord and not ourselves. Additionally, Jesus demanded that to gain that which is ours through faith, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Mt. 16:24); John 14:6 declares that Jesus is the only way. There is no other way. We must remain faithful to Him.

Satan was countered by Jesus’ use of Scripture. (vv. 10-11)

The CSB translates the words of Jesus quite literally from the Greek, “Go away, Satan!” Other English translations read, “Get behind me, Satan” or “Begone, Satan!” The same communication is clear: Jesus instructed Satan to leave Him.

MacArthur wrote, “Because Satan’s present power is only by God’s permission, when the Son commanded him to leave, Satan had no choice but to obey. Therein Christ demonstrated the very sovereign power Satan wanted Him to misuse.” (97)

Jesus did not compromise and lower the standards to pursue after that which Satan offered. He recognized the most important truth: God alone is worthy to be worshipped. Jesus cited Deuteronomy 6:13 when He said, “it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”

It is important to note a few things about verse 11:

(1) Upon Jesus’ command, Satan left Him. Luke’s Gospel records, though, that he only departed for a short time in order to return to him again at “an opportune time” or for a season. (Lk. 4:13) However, this does not at all imply that Jesus would later give in. Jesus remained sinless (Heb. 4:15)

(2) After Satan left Jesus, the angels came and served/ministered to Him.

APPLICATION: “Jesus’ victory over the tempter is the basis for our victory as disciples of Jesus Christ. We stand in fidelity to One who has already defeated Satan and we know that Satan can be defeated repeatedly in our lives as we identify with the power of Christ. It is with this awareness that James writes, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Js. 4:7). In the Book of Revelation we read that the brethren overcame their accuser “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11).” (Augsburger 51)

CONCLUSION:

For several weeks now, We’ve studied about Spiritual warfare. I hope one thing has been clear: We are each encountered with spiritual warfare every single day- the testing of Satan. We each have a need to rely upon the Lord and His Spirit in moments of testing to ensure we resist. Jesus modeled for us how to resist the testing of Satan. Specifically, today, we studied lessons about the tests: Satan tests us with what is already ours in Jesus; Satan demands that we do things his way to profit rather than God’s way; most importantly, though, we learn that Satan was countered by Jesus’ use of Scripture. This is the way to resist the testing of Satan. We are each tested by him. We each need to resist him.

The key question here is this: Do I have faith enough to trust in and embrace that which is already mine in Christ, or am I yielding to the lie of Satan that I must do things his way in order to profit these things?

The call to response: I want you to respond today by trusting in God, placing your faith in Him, and embracing that which He has given you through faith. Lean only upon the Word of God. Remember, Proverbs 3:5-6 read, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.” (CSB) What hinders you from trusting God and embracing that which is yours in Him through faith?